Cary-Grove holds off Dundee-Crown
If moral victories count at this time of the season, the Dundee-Crown girls basketball team got one Tuesday night.
After wilting in the second half and losing by 20 points to Cary-Grove in their earlier meeting this season, this time the Chargers hung tough all night before losing a 56-45 decision to the three-time Fox Valley Conference Valley Division champs on senior night in Carpentersville.
D-C senior Ali Sanders scored a game-high 24 points to close to within 6 points of 1,000 for her career. The Chargers, who finished second in the Valley, play at Grayslake North Friday in the FVC second-place crossover. She can become the eighth player in program history to score more than 1,000 points.
Junior Joslyn Nicholson led the Trojans (17-8, 11-1) with 20 points.
“A lot of our shots were going in because we played together,” said Nicholson, whose 10 of 13 shooting night buoyed the Trojans’ 22 of 46 effort from the floor. “We were just looking to be patient with the ball.”
Nicholson and her teammates knew the Chargers (15-11, 8-4) would bring their best effort to senior night, despite Cary-Grove’s 20-point win a few weeks ago.
“We knew right off the bat this was going to be a tough game,” said Nicholson, who also had 6 steals. “Dundee-Crown plays hard.”
But the Chargers’ season-long nemesis — turnovers — got to them in the end, along with a stifling Cary-Grove defense. D-C turned the ball over 28 times in the game.
“We need to handle the ball smarter,” said D-C coach Michelle Russell. “It’s getting better but if we want to get through regionals it has to be even better than this. I’m happy with the effort tonight but you’re not going to win games with that many turnovers.”
“From the last time we played them, our defense was better but our biggest problem was turnovers,” Sanders added.”
Cary-Grove, which will play at Grayslake Central Thursday night in the FVC first-place crossover game, was in control early with an 11-5 lead that became 11-8 at the first-quarter buzzer when Sanders launched a 3-point switch from a couple steps on the Cary-Grove side of half-court. The Chargers hung tough, trailing just 23-22 at halftime, and then took a 25-23 lead when Sanders hit another 3-pointer just 12 seconds into the third quarter.
But Cary-Grove used 2 free throws from Olivia Jakubicek to start a 14-1 run that turned a tie game into a 37-26 Trojan lead when sophomore Sarah Kendeigh hit a 3-pointer with 2:22 left in the third.
That’s about the point the Chargers wilted in the game at Cary-Grove, but on Tuesday they fought back. Down by 15 a little under 3 minutes into the fourth quarter, D-C used the inspired inside play of senior Diamond Williams to go on a 10-0 run of its own, closing to within 5, 48-43, on a Carlin Faulkner layup off a turnover with 2:21 left to play. But Cary-Grove went to its four-corner offense, used it to create openings in D-C’s defense, and outscored the Chargers 8-2 the rest of the way to earn the win.
“It’s hard to come in on a senior night against six seniors,” said C-G coach Rod Saffert. “They were inspired. We just had to keep our composure. We needed a little more intensity.”
Jakubicek added 12 points for the Trojans and Lincicum had 10 with 4 assists. Williams had 11 points and 14 rebounds for D-C, which outrebounded the visitors 38-19.
And while Sanders came close to scoring her 1,000th point in D-C’s final home game of the season, she said that’s not her main focus.
“It’s definitely a goal,” said the Florida Southern recruit. “It’s always been something I wanted. But winning comes first. I don’t focus on scoring points for myself, I focus on scoring for the team.”